Guitarist Prodigy Tyler Bryant To Open All Dates

(Los Angeles, CA) As announced, this August will see long time music legends, and mutual admirers, Jeff Beck and ZZ Top tour together for the first time ever. The tour launches in Missoula, MT on August 8 and will run for five weeks with stops in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Denver, Detroit, Dallas, Boston and NYC (full itinerary below).

Accompanying Jeff on the road will be Jimmy Hall on Vocals, Rhonda Smith on bass, Jonathan Joseph on drums and Nicolas Meier on guitar. Hall, lead singer for the Southern rock group, Wet Willie, previously joined Beck in 1985 singing lead vocals on Beck’s album, Flash and was nominated for a Grammy award for the performance.

Also, just announced, is the special opening act on this fantastic double bill, 21-year-old Texas guitar prodigy, Tyler Bryant, who has previously opened for Jeff Beck, Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joe Bonamassa, BB King, Heart and Vince Gill among many others. Bryant will appear on all dates except as noted below.

Formatted with musical synergy in mind, stops along the touring routewill offer fans full Jeff Beck and ZZ Top sets, with a finale that joins the English fret master with the Texas rockers each night of the tour. ZZ Top is touring in support of two new releases this summer including The Very Baddest of ZZ Top, a new compilation from Warner Bros. and Live At Montreux 2013 on DVD and Blu-ray from Eagle Rock Entertainment.

Although groundbreaking with the headliners, this tour is not the first live collaboration between the two camps. Gibbons joined Jeff Beck and his band on stage at the 25th anniversary celebration of the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, where they performed The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Foxey Lady” and ZZ Top’s hit “Rough Boy” together. The following year Jeff Beck joined ZZ Top in Lucca, Italy for an extended rendition of the band’s signature piece “La Grange.” Remarkably, however, this marks the first time Jeff Beck and ZZ Top are doing any sort of extensive touring together.

Los Angeles, CA – A star-studded syndicate of rock virtuosos have gathered together to pay tribute to one of the best-loved and most influential bands of all-time, The Doors, on a new CD release titled Light My Fire – A Classic Rock Salute To The Doors, to be released by Purple Pyramid Records on June 24th! Produced by the extraordinarily talented Billy Sherwood, the album features brand new interpretations of classic Doors cuts that defined an entire generation, songs such as “Light My Fire,” “Riders On The Storm,” “Break On Through (To The Other Side),” “Love Her Madly,” “L.A. Woman,” “People Are Strange,” and lots more!

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear some of The Doors’ peers and prodigies tackle these seminal songs. Not one but TWO members of the quintessential prog rock band Yes, keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman and lead guitarist Steve Howe, joined Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan on the signature song, “Light My Fire,” which as Wakeman explains, “has always been one of those iconic tracks that keyboard players listen to because of the fact that there are so few tracks with keyboard/organ solos on them compared to our six-stringed buddies. It’s also a solo area that is totally open to interpretation so whatever you do is not comparable to the original, so it was an absolute joy to do.” Howe likewise enthused, “I was delighted to play on this album as The Doors were a band I heard a lot, as everywhere I went in the late ‘60s their music was playing, at friend’s, in restaurants, gigs & bars throughout London. I’m sure I saw them play at Middle Earth, a then hip club. Then, when the reissue more recently came out, I got totally back into their music, especially ‘Light My Fire.’”

Another keyboard legend, Geoff Downes, likewise extolled the genius of Doors’ organist Ray Manzarek saying, “It was a real privilege to be asked to participate in this project. Ray Manzarek was one of the pioneers of keyboard playing in rock music and had a major influence on me and many others. His style was totally unique, and an integral element into what made The Doors sound the way they did.”

Meanwhile, renegade guitarist Steve Morse, of Dixie Dregs fame, recollects that The Doors were “a soundtrack, literally, for some of the most memorable times, good and bad, that I experienced as a young teen. Like many of my favorites, they were adventurous, improvising, unafraid of what the media might say and all with a sort of lyrical freedom that still stands up today.”

The Cars’ lead axeman Elliot Easton proclaims, “I had a wonderful time reinterpreting ‘Spanish Caravan,’” a song Easton found both “challenging and very rewarding!” And jazz fusion Larry Coryell concludes, “The Doors were the unofficial representatives to the world for LA, not ‘Los Angeles,’ but ‘LA.’ Their sound – raunchy, cluttered, sassy, leering, kind of mean, and always horny was the sound of LA/Los Angeles itself. How many times circa ‘65-66 did my first wife Julie and I drive through LA on the freeway listening to, say, ‘Love Me Two Times,’ and think that The Doors were the sound of LA just as clearly as Thelonious Monk was the sound of NYC.”

That sound continues to reverberate outward through both space and time, touching each new generation around the globe and keeping The Doors’ flame burning brighter than ever! Producer Billy Sherwood sums it up when he declares, “The Doors’ music will live on forever, and it’s my hope that we’ve paid tribute to the band in the highest way possible.”

Marco Mendoza, a founding member of BLACK STAR RIDERS, has decided to pursue other projects after potential conflicts in schedules.

His replacement will be Robbie Crane (formerly of RATT, VICNE NEIL and LYNCH MOB).

Scott Gorham: “I am very sad to see Marco go. We have been together in a band now for almost 20 years and Marco is my brother and we wish him well for the future. It’s an amicable parting of ways and we all respect that Marco wants to do other projects outside of BLACK STAR RIDERS and there just isn’t time to do both.”

Ricky Warwick: “Marco will always be part of the BSR family and a true friend of ours. We are very happy to introduce Robbie Crane to everyone as the new BSR bass player. The guy killed the audition and we can’t wait to get on stage with him on our Euro run starting mid July and then of course, in the studio in the autumn for the recording of the second BLACK STAR RIDERS record.”

Marco Mendoza: “I loved my time in Black Star Riders and want to thank all the fans for making the last year on road so successful. I am sorry to be leaving the band but I feel it’s time for me to pursue other avenues, some of which I have already been working with, all of which I am very excited about. I wish the guys all success in the future and I am very happy that my friend Robbie Crane will continue to blaze with BSR.”

But exciting things are ahead with the addition of veteran bassist Robbie Crane: “I am very excited to be a part of the BLACK STAR RIDERS family. As a long time fan of their music, I am thrilled to be a part of the band”.

Camarillo, CA – Alice Cooper fans worldwide rejoice! Marshall Blonstein’s Audio Fidelity is releasing Alice Cooper’s classic album ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ on Hybrid SACD on February 4, 2014! As a bonus, along with the meticulously reproduced artwork, enclosed in every CD is the very collectible replicated ‘Billion Dollar Bill’.

With ‘Billion Dollar Babies’, Alice Cooper refined the raw grit of their earlier work in favor of a slightly more polished sound resulting in a mega-hit album that reached the top of the US and UK album charts. It’s impossible to overstate how popular the band had become by the time their sixth album was released. The album, is brilliant, decadent and encapsulated all the celebrity trashiness of the 70’s only three years into the decade.

Song for song, ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ is probably the original Alice Cooper group’s finest and strongest. The album’s singles “Elected”, “Hello Hooray”, “Billion Dollar Babies”,and “No More Mr. Nice Guy” all became hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Also included are a pair of perennial concert standards – the disturbing necrophilia ditty “I Love the Dead” and the chilling macabre of “Sick Things”.

After the album was released, the band embarked on a tour which broke the US box office records previously held by the Rolling Stones. The show climaxed with a guillotine execution of Alice. The album and the tour made the band into the world’s preeminent pied pipers of teenage trash culture and the most successful rock band ever to be loathed by American parents.

“Other than the original ‘Alice Cooper Band’ being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2011, our second biggest achievement was when our album ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ went to Number #1 in all three music trade magazines at the same time in April of 1973. Number #1 in Billboard, Number #1 in Record World and Number #1 in Cash Box. We had hoped it would sell Gold or Platinum as a follow-up to the success of our album ‘School’s Out’, but a Number #1 album was something that was totally unexpected. Over the years the title track “Billion Dollar Babies” has become my signature song because of the recognizable drum intro.” – Neal Smith, Alice Cooper drummer and founding member

“I remember we were out on the road when the album finally came out in February 1973. I listened to it in my hotel room and just got this really big smile. I was thinking, ‘It’s amazing, we’re really pulling this off’. The album was very, very unique and very, very different. I was really proud of the songs, especially ‘No More Mr Nice Guy’, ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ and ‘Generation Landslide’.” – Michael Bruce, Alice Cooper guitarist/keyboardist and founding member

Coming up next year is a fantastic new series hosted by Brian Johnson. Cars that Rock will air in the UK in Spring 2014 on Quest, Freeview Channel 38. Cars are a life long passion of Brian’s as evidenced by his fantastic book and audio book “Rockers and Rollers”, and this series takes his interest in the coolest cars to the next stage. Stay tuned to http://www.brianjohnsonracing.com/ for more details.

I’m proud to say that I’m working with these amazing musicians. We’ve written some great stuff that fans of Blue Murder and Rainbow will love. Ladies & Gentlemen please welcome Legacy X! I’ll be producing and playing keyboards. See you on the road 🙂

Los Angeles, CA – A spectacular collection of rare and unreleased recordings from famed guitarist of Deep Purple, James Gang and the Billy Cobhamband, Tommy Bolin will be released on August 13th by Purple Pyramid Records. ‘Whirlwind’, produced by Greg Hampton and Johnnie Bolin, features rare material from Bolin’s jazz-rock band Energy, an epic 26-minute version of “Marching Powder” (here called “Marching Bag”) from his first solo album ‘Teaser’, as well as songs Tommy was preparing for his third solo album before his untimely death in 1976.

Tommy Bolin ‘Whirlwind’ will be released in both a beautiful 8-panel, 2-CD digipak and a 2-LP gatefold vinyl set. For the ultimate collector, Purple Pyramid Records will be releasing a special limited (1000 only) deluxe box edition of this exciting collection, which includes the 2-CD digipak plus 4 color postcards, a Tommy Bolin signature guitar pick, collectable patch and pin!

Says producer Greg Hampton: “Tommy’s music was way ahead of its time. He’s one of the truly greatest guitarists to ever live, and he left an incredible legacy that will continue to influence and inspire musicians forever. The tracks on ‘Whirlwind’ are remarkable because they give you a glimpse into the amazing diversity Tommy was capable of.”

Check out the promotional video featuring rare footage of Tommy Bolin tearing up the stage: